Chapter 388: Mastermind

Lu Yun could extrapolate many things from the eyes’ words.

First, the shamanic race.

They were absolutely a branch of the ancient humans dating back to the Primeval Era. They’d ushered in the golden age of the shamanic dao at a later date, but for one reason or another, they’d ultimately vanished in the sands of time.

Corpse coffins were a shamanic art, and weren’t tombs, but curses.

The shamans had reappeared in the ancient times and used the corpse coffin art to curse the primeval dragons. Eighty thousand years ago, they’d struck again with the same method and buried two divine kings—Ruyi and Yueshen—to curse the fortunes of the divine dynasty.

And now... the poison curse also originated from the shamanic race!

Lu Yun looked deeply at the white irises, stressing each syllable. “Did your people cast the poison curse in Qing Han? Answer me!”

“I don’t know....” A sense of deep powerlessness filled the eyes. “I was ambushed by dragon and phoenix experts and eradicated from the world. Someone reforged my true spirit and facilitated my rebirth, so I reincarnated as Qi Hai. If it weren’t for you breaking the layout inside the dragon and phoenix nests, I wouldn’t have awakened at all.”

Hum.

A droning sound reverberated in hell’s atmosphere as a tall figure emerged from the other side of the void and stepped into the netherworld. Impressively enough, the master of the eyes was none other than Qi Hai!

But plainly, this wasn’t the same Qi Hai that Empress Myrtlestar and Su Xiaoxiao had known. No, this was someone else, a peerless human powerhouse from the Primeval Era.

“To think that hell, humanity’s last hope, has also been destroyed.” The man looked at the shattered world around him and sighed quietly in spite of himself. “Are you not surprised by me?” 'Qi Hai' glanced at Lu Yun, somewhat puzzled.

“Why should I be?” Lu Yun replied, tilting his head to the side.

“Since I can visit hell, I naturally have my ways of killing you.” 'Qi Hai' narrowed his eyes. “Hell belongs to humans. If I wrest it away from you, then perhaps there’s still hope for mankind to ascend to those historic peaks once more.”

“You can give it a try if you want.” A smile floated onto Lu Yun’s lips and he snorted, “Did you think you could enter this world without my permission?”

Soon after, a simple and unadorned book emitting a faint black glow slowly materialized in front of him.

“The Book of Life and Death?” Paling slightly, ‘Qi Hai’ took two short steps backward. “Wait, this isn’t the Book of Life and Death! The book has been destroyed, so what is this?”

Seems I’ve been overthinking things. Lu Yun sighed softly, “The primeval humans weren’t in full control of hell either, it seems. At least, they didn’t control the Tome of Life and Death.”

“Tome of Life and Death?” Bewilderment appeared on ‘Qi Hai’s’ face at the mention of a name he’d never heard of.

However, Lu Yun immediately changed the subject. “There’s another pair of eyes there, as well as many prisoners…. Who are they?” He pointed at the unknown void in the depths of the netherworld.

“Those are traitors.” 'Qi Hai' followed the direction of Lu Yun’s finger, scathing hatred shooting out of his eyes. “The eight regiments of ghostly servants protecting hell also betrayed humanity in the end and handed hell over to our enemies.”

Qi Hai looked all around. Noticing Lu Yun’s many ghostly servants and Envoys of Samsara, he couldn’t help but mock, “Bold of you to accept other races. Aren’t you afraid they’ll end up betraying you?”

Among Lu Yun’s envoys and ghostly servants, very few were humans. Most were monster spirits or divines.

Paying the man no heed, Lu Yun took out several formation stones with a flip of the hand. Using the same method as the last time, he carefully engraved formation runes on the stones, combining formation and talisman dao.

“Are you… sketching the origin of the universe?” 'Qi Hai' murmured, looking at Lu Yun’s fingers.

Huff!

A ball of purple fire suddenly erupted and destroyed everything on the formation stones. This time, the purple flame made a full circle in the air before slowly vanishing, rather than going on a rampage like last time.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“What’s this?” Lu Yun asked, then continued, “It’s this kind of fire that destroyed hell.”

Blood drained from ‘Qi Hai’s’ face. His blank gaze remained on the spot where the fire had been and his body began to tremble. It took a long time to recover his calm. “There are some things….”

“Then don’t. I’m not strong enough yet, so I’m not qualified to know!” Lu Yun interrupted. “I just need to know what I need to know so I can make the right preparations beforehand!”

“In the month since I’ve awakened and dwelled in the North Sea, I’ve learned many things and gained some understanding of the current era.” 'Qi Hai' didn’t reply directly. “Ten thousand years ago was the battle that marked the end of the Aos, the North Sea’s last dragon rulers. Do you still remember it? The same selling out, the same betrayal, and the same… mastermind!

“That was just a simple reenactment of mankind’s fall,” 'Qi Hai' chuckled.

“Mastermind?” Lu Yun froze.

“That fire belongs to one of the rulers of the world. As for his name, it’s better for you if you don’t know it.” ‘Qi Hai’s’ expression turned visibly aloof. “To think he’s also involved….” He then plopped down on the ground, clearly not intending to leave.

“You should forget about the items stashed inside the dragon palace’s nine divine vaults. Those belong to…. Hmm, to use this current age’s terminology, these are treasures of the primeval dragons. They’re of no use to you right now.”

“You’re going to stay here?” Lu Yun asked 'Qi Hai'.

“Yes.” The man nodded. “In here, I can still feel the presence of human dao, while outside….”

There had been no immortal dao back in his time. Human dao had ruled the world, then. It hadn’t been until the end of his era and the destruction of human dao that the current immortal dao had been born.

However, Lu Yun had a feeling that immortal dao had also been pioneered by humans. Even the Scarlet Ape sealed inside the dragon tomb had cultivated immortal dao.

As for the ‘Qi Hai’ in front of him, this wasn’t a case of body possession. His true spirit had reincarnated generation after generation and he’d ultimately regained his previous talents after his incarnation as Qi Hai of the ancient times. Then, he’d dazzled the world of immortals with his brilliant feats.

Ultimately, Qi Hai had entered the dragon tomb due to a call from his spirit’s instincts and leveraged the power left behind by the primeval humans to nourish himself. However, the two-headed zombie in the tomb had eaten him whole. Or rather, the creature had gathered him inside its body and used its own energy to repair his true spirit.

Otherwise, Lu Yun likely would’ve been powerless against the two-headed zombie, even with the Great Formation of Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

In any case, after the zombie’s death, Qi Hai’s true spirit was freed and he’d fully recovered his original identity from the Primeval Era.

……

Frustration assailed Lu Yun when he thought of the divine vaults he couldn’t touch, but Beigong Yu then told him something that struck him like a bolt from the blue.

The Skyqilin Pearl!

Beigong Yu knew where it was located.